Letter from the very cheap seats: I’m amazed at the tendency of the Democratic leadership to retreat back into their own echo chamber. I write this with no great pleasure, as I don’t necessarily consider myself a Republican. Although I don’t consider myself a Democrat, either. I lean to the left on the Political Compass but also lean heavily libertarian, and so I don’t find either party particularly appealing. And I do think, at least right now, the Republicans are doing a better job at appealing to people like me — although I’m getting ahead of myself.
We’ve just finished another “bellwether” election (they seem to all carry that moniker these days) and as usual the Democrats are having a hard time swallowing the meal that’s on the plate right in front of them. McAuliffe lost what was supposed to be an easy layup to Youngkin, and while hands and alarm bells are (w)ringing (groan), no one seems to have a clear idea on how to put out the fire. I’ve lost count of the number of times over the last two days I’ve read quotes from Democratic pundits that this is a wake-up call to “stay the course” and “continue to push the bold agenda” and “deliver on our mandate.”
Ummmm. Or maybe not. Can you think of any successful company that, faced with a gloomy sales report, would insist, “Our customers just don’t get it! Push more product out the door!”? Why is it so difficult to simply interpret the election on its face and conclude that voters preferred the Republican agenda to the Democratic one?
Unable to create any cohesion within their own party, the Democrats nevertheless seem surprised that they can’t capture the imagination of the electorate. And yet as I write this, the Dems’ response seems to be to double-down on the more liberal positions that in a large part have rendered them unable to mobilize their own caucus, let alone fight off salvos from the right. The GOP’s best ally right now is the Democrats’ insistence that only Democrats can occupy the moral high ground.
I have a good friend who is running for Congress, and for some strange reason he reached out to ask me for my perspective. I said, “prep for a street fight rather than a spelling bee.” In my view the Democrats are really great at preparing, but they prepare for the wrong game – and then they whine about the rules when they lose. It’s annoying. And so you have McAuliffe getting branded as the wonk as he tries to split hairs and explain somewhat nuanced policy stances, while the wealthy, Harvard MBA Youngkin is able to walk away with the “everyman” moniker because he’s just better at sticking to some simple, easy-to-understand talking points. In an effort to work so hard to explain why they are right, the Democrats keep losing.
It’s tempting to give the Dems a break and say, well, they might not be as good on the campaign trail, but at least their penchant for espousing the finer points of policy makes them better implementers — but watching Pelosi and Biden stumble around this past year, I’m not so sure they are going to be able to make that case. Instead of complaining that the level of discourse isn’t sophisticated enough, the Democrats need to learn pronto that voters make decisions mostly with their pocketbooks and their passions, not with logic. (And I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing — we’re a country of people, not logicians.)
Last thing I’ll add before I trip getting off of the soapbox is a quick perspective from living for the last twenty years out here in rural, red-state, flyover country. I think the Democrats would be well served by abandoning the storyline that the GOP and its voters lack a sense of compassion, equity, and love for humanity. That theme may play well in Los Angeles, but it doesn’t work in most of the counties that much of America lives in. We keep seeing lessons that you can’t win big elections simply by carrying the urban areas — perhaps the math is tipping that way, but it hasn’t arrived there yet or there would be a different Governor-elect in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The issue isn’t that Democrats have all the compassion and love and Republicans are all heartless and financially motivated. The real issue out here where I live is that there’s genuine and I’d say well-deserved skepticism about whether government is the best delivery vehicle for that compassion and love. It’s hard for most of my neighbors to believe that government is the most efficient way to create a better world, and to be frank (tough love time) the last year hasn’t increased the confidence levels any.
And so I think there’s a risk that the more Democrats continue to follow the track of expanding spending and government programs, the more a lot of America will actually see them as the party of heartless, massive business. It’s a bit of a wild turnabout but I know a lot of lovely, thoughtful, intelligent people who vote Republican and aren’t part of the big business elite — in fact, they feel like they are voting against that elite when they vote for the GOP.
Hey, where’d I put that copy of What’s the Matter with Kansas?